Streamwood veteran, volunteer wins prestigious state award

U.S. Marine and tireless community volunteer Delbert Seaton of Streamwood received a prestigious quarterly award Friday from the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs, making him one of four finalists for the state's veteran of the year in August.

State officials and local dignitaries presented the Patriotic Volunteer and Appreciation Award to Seaton at a ceremony at Hanover Township's Veterans Hall.

It's the Vietnam-era veteran's volunteerism for the township over the past five years that earned him the award.

Harry Sawyer, assistant director of the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs, said a trait all nominees for the award share is a selfless dedication to others after their own military service.

But what made Seaton this quarter's winner is the sheer amount of time he puts in.

"Delbert is always helping someone in the community," Sawyer said. "He lives to donate his time."

A bittersweet aspect of the award is that veterans are typically very uncomfortable being recognized for their service, Sawyer said.

And, indeed, Seaton was visibly moved after receiving the state award, the state flag, and local recognitions from Hanover Township Supervisor Brian McGuire and Streamwood Village Trustee Mary Thon.

He even joked that he'd planned not to show up.

"Seriously, I'm overwhelmed. I'm beyond myself," Seaton said. "I don't think I've been this emotional since my father died."

Among Seaton's many areas of service are the picking up and distribution of donations for the township food pantry and the collecting of toys for just over 1,000 children in need at the holidays.

But he said nothing has ever honored him more than when World War II veterans in wheelchairs, whom he visits at the Hines Veterans Affairs Hospital, ask him how he's doing himself.

Veterans and troops currently serving the country always need society's support and that of individual people, he said.

"Do what you can to help them out," he advised the audience at the ceremony.

Seaton said his inspiration to volunteer comes from his own tweak of John F. Kennedy's "Ask not what your country can do for you" speech, which he first heard when he was 7 years old. Instead, he says, "Ask what you can do for your fellow man."

Seaton served as a Marine from 1974 to 1982 and was a member of Operation Eagle Pull for the evacuation of Saigon, though he never personally had to go to Vietnam. Later, however, he served as a civilian contractor in Iraq and Afghanistan, which he described as a scary time despite being well looked after.

Earlier awards he received for his military service include the Good Conduct Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Rifle Expert Badge, Pistol Sharpshooter Badge, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon and the Cold War Certificate.